I can't make my mind up on which cue to get. I had a Scruggs and loved the way it played. I like a little weight in the butt end and I like solid hit.
They Sgruggs had a 5/16-14 pin and I didn't know if a Frey played the same.
I will also tell you you CAN NOT go wrong buying a FREY!!! As others have mentioned , Bob Frey built all odds Timmy Scruggs Sneaky Petes. That's not gossip, it's the truth. I can not and will not say ANYTHING about Mr Pierces' cues as I have never owned one nor shot with one as far as I know. With this being said I HAVE OWNED, and played with countless Frey's. THEY PLAY AWESOME! THEY ARE AN ABSOLUTE STEAL AS FAR AS PRICE!
Honestly , IMHO, I do not believe you can spend your money any better than buying a BOB FREY. PERIOD. The care he puts into each and every cue is unmatched, HE WILL NOT allow any cue to leave his shop with his name on it if he does not think that cue is perfect!!! We all LOVE Timmy's cues and rightly so. Many do not realize that a huge portion of cues that left Timmy's shop was IN FACT, made by BOB FREY. It's a much as humanly possible to get a TS new cue ( sadly Timmy has left us ) from Bob Frey and odds are at least in regards to a Sneaky that Bob was the man that ad it in he first place. After playing with hundreds of cues from dozens of makers, I will say with a completely clear conscious that Frey's are the BEST playing cues on the PLANET!!!
As to Gene ( gkloop) - Bob's authorized dealer - I can say nothing but good things about the man. The last cue I bought was an Ebony into curly SP bought from gkloop. With all the nonsense we all hear all too often about this or that, Gene was a total professional the WHOLE WAY. One could ask for NOTHING MORE. He went above and beyond throughout the entire process. He actually went out of his way to get me my cue ( which he definitely did not have to do ) AND to make sure I was happy with if ( prior to leaving me with it ). I can't speak highly enough of this guy, but I will say this - there are plenty of things to be worried about buying about when purchasing a cue online no doubt - BUT I CAN ASSURE YOU, you need not worry about ANY OF THEO THINGS when dealing with FREY / GENE!!!!
Once again; no disrespect towards Mr. PIERCE, but if your gonna spend your hard earned money on a new SP you just can not do any better than purchasing a brand new BOB FREY and doing so thru GENE ( gkloop ) and you WILL BE HAPPY from start to finish!!!!!!
KD - and yes, I do love the " Big Pins " and THEY ARE the only way to go!!!! Good call on that one brother!!!!
I can't make my mind up on which cue to get. I had a Scruggs and loved the way it played. I like a little weight in the butt end and I like solid hit.
I grew up in Maryland and hit with a ton of Tim Scruggs sneaky petes. His best hitting cues were the ones with the white phenolic joints! They were better then the "true" sneakies! It made the cues less whippy and stiffer.
Bob has realized he likes the hit of the big pins and the latest batch of cues is all big pin. Based on Gkloops offering of sneakies the Ebony and the bocote with the white phenolic joint are true players.
Again, just my opinion having hit with and grown up around the sneaky kings Bob and Tim.
KD
When you say "best hitting" what does that mean. It would be very helpful to describe your perception of the cue, it's balance and what characteristics the hit has. It is all individual but it would be great to have context.
I am gonna have to apologize up front as I am not that great being able to put into words what I like about cues. With that being said I will try my best. First : value. Of course this is VERY SUBJECTIVE but after owning, buying, selling, trading, playing with, etc literally hundreds of cues over the years my opinion I'd Frey's by far have the best " value " of any of the cues I've played. Pretty much I've played them all, Boars to Players, the only one I believe I have not played is the Southwest believe it or not. Anyway, for what you get for your money regardless of the actual price I do strongly believe Bob Frey's to be at the top of that catagory.
What do I " look for " in a cue? At least as far as playability - I want a cue that gives the greatest amount of " feedback ". Tough to describe but I'll try. Think of it like this, you have a ball that is near frozen on the head rail. You only want to hit that ball just enough to make a good hit. You are on the foot rail. This is a tough shot no matter who you are. I want to know that my cue will " tell me " exactly how I need to hit this shot to accomplish what needs done. Next, I now need to pocket a ball and have to use draw and only have a window of about 4 inches for shape.It's about a 5 foot shot, with the object ball about two foot from the pocket. I need to know when I strike it that the cue ball is going where I need it to - almost exactly , and I get this from Frey's.
I mainly play one pocket. The break is of great importance . I NEED to know the feeling of when I break, that when I strike the ball it's gonna do EXACTLN what I want. As I said, I'm not real good at explainING things so I am sorry, but the best I can do is tell you that his cues give excellent feedback.
Honestly I can pretty much have any cue I want but time and time again I go with Frey. ALL of my biggest money matches have been played with a Frey, either my own or a borrowed cue. I've had any number of cues and when it's time to get down ( up to $10k sets ) I would borrow a nice Frey from a friend of mine to play with. I don't know how to explain it better than I have but I can tell you this : you are talking about what - a 4, 5, 6 hundred dollar cue? I know money is tight for everyone and just buying a bunch of cues to try out is not an option. With that being said, you CAN NOT GO WRONG with buying a Frey. Odds are you will LOVE IT and it will become your go to everyday player, BUT if for some reason that is not the case well you won't have any problems getting your money back out of it. That's the best advice I can give ya. There are MANY MANY threads right here on AZ about Frey cues, do a little search and read all about them. As I mentioned earlier, I have literally played ( gambled ) with hundreds of cues over the years and I always come back to Frey. There's something to be said about that and there is a reason why that is so.
What do I " look for " in a cue? At least as far as playability - I want a cue that gives the greatest amount of " feedback ". Tough to describe but I'll try. Think of it like this, you have a ball that is near frozen on the head rail. You only want to hit that ball just enough to make a good hit. You are on the foot rail. This is a tough shot no matter who you are. I want to know that my cue will " tell me " exactly how I need to hit this shot to accomplish what needs done. Next, I now need to pocket a ball and have to use draw and only have a window of about 4 inches for shape.It's about a 5 foot shot, with the object ball about two foot from the pocket. I need to know when I strike it that the cue ball is going where I need it to - almost exactly , and I get this from Frey's.
It is wood to wood! The phenolic is sleeved on! The sleeve and pin stabilize the cue and diminish the whipping nature of the cue. Resulting in a stiffer hit. You get less deflection in my opinion and less spin or English.Interesting.
I always prefer the wood to wood considering it's a sneaky and all.
Will see if I can't get two at the same time to try them.